A court in Singapore has been shown pictures of a cat cage that a five-year-old boy was allegedly kept in by his parents before they ‘scalded him to death’.
Azlin Arujunah and Ridzuan Mega Abdul Rahman, both 27, are accused of pouring boiling water over their son at their home in the Southeast Asian city-state.
The child, who has not been named due to a court order, died just a day after he was admitted to hospital.
During the first day of their trial on Tuesday, the court heard the five-year-old was kept in a cat box and tortured with heated spoons and pliers for months before he died.
His death was caused by blows to the head and a deluge of 198F water poured over his back and calves, prosecutors said.
Today his mother, Azlin, told the police three days after his death she did not intend to kill her child, saying “how am I able to kill a child? Just look at my small body.”
In another statement, she said:
“I do not have the intention to pour the hot water on him if he did not show any attitude towards me.”
He had a fracture of his nose and bruising on his limbs and scalp and his lips and the youngster’s gums were torn, a pathologist said.
Dr Chan added that these injuries could have been caused by either a fall or punch of ‘a considerable amount of force’, according to reports.
Among the list of horrific injuries were second to third-degree burns, which covered 75 per cent of the boy’s body, acute kidney injuries, dehydration, a broken nose, cuts on his face and isolated speech delay.
His mother wanted to bathe him but the child refused, his father was called to discipline him and he poured a flood of hot water over his calf and back, the court heard.
The boy then toppled forward and stopped moving, a witness told the hearing on Tuesday.
Rather than immediately seeking medical attention, the parents waited six hours to take the boy to a hospital, the court heard.
After the hospital informed the police, the parents were arrested over the following days.
Singapore’s legal system maintains a mandatory death penalty for a number of offences, including murder.
